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In July 2012 Valore D, the Italian association of businesses to support the talent of women, launched “In the Boardroom”, a programme to select and train the best Non-Executive Directors.

In the Boardroom was designed by Valore D, with the support of GE Capital, at the initiative of Linklaters and Egon Zehnder, our Firm. Together with Linklaters, we selected and provided all key faculty members.

In The Boardroom was meant to select and promote “Ambassadors of Merit“, ready to change Italy’s corporate governance for the better, as a result of the huge opportunity represented by a super modern law (that came into effect in 2012) fostering gender diversity in the boardroom (read here for the beneficial effects of this law).

Italy is today a positive example of an improving corporate governance in Europe and beyond. Women as a crucial factor of positive change have given such a strong contribution to this that we are well beyond the turning point.

On 20 and 21 November 2015, we celebrated the conclusion of In the Boardroom, which was launched in July 2012. Ever since, it has helped well over 500 talented women prepare for the role of Non Executive Director.

Of those, a significant number are now Non-Executive Directors.

I feel humbled by the exceptional contribution of so many talented women. They have set the example for everyone in terms of dedication, willingness to prepare for roles where now merit and competencies have replaced “word of mouth” as a key to rigorous selection. Women mean merit, competence and better corporate governance. In summary, more women in leadership means huge change for the better.

The next step is now to continue to work to foster the benefits of gender diversity, and diversity at large, also when it comes to executive positions. “In The Boardroom” has been an exceptional factor and its effects will be felt for many years to come.

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz published “Great People Decisions” in 2007. The book has achieved global fame with fifteen international editions, emphasizing how important people decisions are for the success of one’s personal life as well as for the broader impact of leadership in the world we live in.

I have been a proud Egon Zehnder colleague of Claudio since 2004. I am now ever more proud as I hold in my hands “It’s Not the How or the What but the Who“, Claudio’s most recent book that was released at the beginning of June 2014 during the celebrations for Egon Zehnder’s 50th anniversary.

More will follow on the extraordinary leadership insights that Claudio’s forty-four short essays can provide the reader. If only for a short minute, in this post I want to focus on Essay 34, where Claudio describes what he calls “the Female Opportunity”:

Over the past few years, as I’ve traveled the world to speak with senior private and public leaders about talent issues,… I am often asked where I see the most opportunity. My answer is never a country, it’s a gender: women.

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, “It’s not the How or the What but the Who”, Harvard Business Review Press, p. 160

A couple of pages later, Claudio, whom we at Egon Zehnder had the privilege of seeing in action speaking at our Milan office to an audience of 80 women leaders in 2012, ends this chapter on the Female Opportunity quoting one best practice: Italy.

Italy as best practice for the “Female Opportunity”

And he does so with specific mention to the recent history of Italy’s most effective legislation in favor of diverse boards, arguing in the very same direction (indeed quoting this very Open Thinking) as we have for a long time.

On a couple of recent occasions, I was asked about what is commonly defined as the “golden skirts” phenomenon, whether there’s a risk of some female non-executive directors taking on too many Board roles as a result of a law on #DiverseBoards (this is another one of many possible definitions).

I would warn to be skeptical. I would even go as far as to say that this is a clear instance of unconscious biases at play. We look at women in a different, more biased way than we would normally look at men.

The expression “Golden skirts” has the very same unconsciously negative overtones as expressions such as “pink” quotas and the like. Unconsciously, similarity bias makes us fear adding diverse members to the board.

There might be women taking on too many board positions, exactly as there might be many men who do the same. Nothing to do with gender nor with the law. Let’s note, though, that we do not seem we use a similar “gender” stereotype as that of a “golden skirt” when we describe such a phenomenon when it involves men.

Even if we assumed, for the sake of the argument, that there might be cases of women taking on an excessive number of non-executive board positions, under no circumstances would this imply scarcity of female talent or a peculiar behavior of women.

In addition, we need to be extremely careful. If you properly look for it, and manage to overcome unconscious biases, female talent is abundant so that there is no risk that women take on too many board positions as there is too little talent to meet demand.

In the country where I live, where a law on #DiverseBoards has been in place since 2012, we haven’t observed this phenomenon amongst women any differently than we would observe it amongst men. I would even go as far as to say that in my personal professional experience, I have encountered in women an extreme level of care about not taking on too many board seats, thereby running the risk of dedicating too little time to any single given board position they hold. Not for a reason of gender, we should note. Rather, as women have approached Board roles with more insight, as they have “raised the standards” in terms of preparing for a board seat. From now on, even men will have to do the same.

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The FT Innovative Lawyers is a great award. I am so honoured that our “In the Boardroom” program was part of the reason for Claudia Parzani’s being acknowledged by the FT. In addition, I love to think that how women are changing Italy is only a beginning of how they will keep transforming the world for the better.

One of the ten winners in this year’s FT Innovative Lawyers survey, among over 600 participants, is Claudia Parzani of Linklaters, chair of corporate association Valore D and co-creator of In the Boardroom, an initiative she developed with GE Capital and Egon Zehnder to provide training and skills to prepare women for boardroom positions. Claudia also created the Breakfast@Linklaters network, featured in this year’s Client Service category.

Kudos to Claudia! I am proud to be participating in her boardroom program and honored to be in her circle.

Update & Correction (Oct. 17, 2013): post corrected to clarify that In The Boardroom was developed through collaboration among Linklaters, GE Capital and Egon Zehnder. The supporting member companies of Valore D can be found on this page.

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A great day of work in Venice, on 23 November 2012, to discuss how we can all help women flourish and, with them, make Italy and the world a better place. A great “Thank you” to all outstanding participants, who ensured this was a success!

This is the video, in Italian, of of the opening panel, which I had the privilege to lead: